Pluses And Minuses: What The Flyers, Blackhawks And Bruins Must Consider With Their Interim Coaches

The Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and ChicagoBlackhawks have more in common than their lackluster seasons.All three teams fired their coach during the season andnamed an interim bench boss.Of the trio, only the Flyers Brad Shaw managed a (mini)revival of sorts, but that was in a small sample size: nine games.That at least gives Shaw an outside chance at landing a spotas the teams permanent coach.The other two replacements coaches, Chicagos AndersSorensen and Bostons Joe Sacco, are also hopeful.

And one of them appears tohave a better chance than Shaw to remain as the No.

1 guy.Heres a look at the three interim coaches and their plusesand minuses:Brad Shaw, Philadelphia FlyersPluses Shaw, who turns 61later this month, directed the team to a 5-3-1 record, and young players likeTyson Foerster (nine goals in nine games), Matvei Michkov (six goals, 12 pointsin nine games) and Bobby Brink (eight points in nine games) excelled under him.

The players sang Shawspraises and played much looser and scored more under Shaw than they did forhis predecessor, John Tortorella.

He is familiar with theorganization, having coached with the Flyers for three seasons.Minuses Fair or not, hesassociated with the fired Tortorella.

The Flyers willprobably go with a younger coach who has experience developing up-and-comingplayers.

That said, the performances of Michkov, Foerster and Brink may givethe Flyers brass reason to pause.

Philadelphia has missedthe playoffs in all three years Shaw has been on the staff.

This season, theyhad just 76 points 11 fewer than last year.Joe Sacco, Boston BruinsPluses Bruins GM Don Sweeneypraised Sacco, saying he did well, even though he had to coach completelydifferent teams because of several in-season moves that were made.

Sacco is extremelyfamiliar with the organization (including some very productive years), havingbeen on the staff for 11 years.

Cam Neely, the teamspresident, said Sacco would be considered for the full-time position.

Lipservice or an indication he liked Saccos work?Minuses He failed to lead theBruins, which dealt away key players at the trade deadline, into the playoffs.

Boston went just25-30-7 since Sacco replaced Jim Montgomery in mid-November.

As mentioned, theMassachusetts native was a longtime Boston assistant before getting theinterim tag, and the Bruins seem to be leaning toward someone outside theorganization.Anders Sorensen, Chicago BlackhawksPluses Though he inherited aweak roster, Sorensens team was competitive, and its noteworthy that thestruggling Connor Bedard got untracked under him.

Sorensen, 49, isrespected for his teaching ability a mandatory trait for someone coaching ayoung team.

In addition, his engaging personality seemed to click with hisplayers.

His last three AHLteams made the playoffs.Minuses Chicago went 17-30-9after Sorensen replaced the fired Luke Richardson in December, finishing withthe NHLs second-worst record.

Sorensen called it a rollercoaster, but he feels the team will be better for it in the long run.

The Blackhawks finished31st in goals allowed (3.56 per game) and 26th inscoring (2.73 per game), though that can be seen as more of an indictment onthe roster than Sorensens coaching ability.

Shortly after Sorensentook over, the Blackhawks lost five straight and were a defensive disaster,cementing their hold on last place in the Central.Get thelatest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and bysubscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here.

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